Day 66 Post Op - Journey Continues [5.3 cm or 2.09 inches Taller!]
Greetings LL'ers,
Today was a good one. I woke up with not much morning pain which was great. I don't know what happened but something inside of me got excited... I 'm in the final stretch and every millimeter counts.
Pain: No pain at all really; other then muscle stiffness discomfort.
Flexibility and movement: Walking unassisted; but using crutches mostly for safety. As soon as I'm done with distraction; I will begin to walk more unassisted as my focuses shifts from growing to walking normally again.
Today's' Activities: Rested around the house, 3 Self PT Sessions, 1 bow flex workout
CLL Symptoms:
- Very tight muscles such as hamstrings, quads, glutes, hips, etc.
- Slight 2-4 degree bend of right leg (difficulty straitening) I am able to straighten when flexing
- Slight 1 degree bend of left leg (difficulty straitening). I am able to straighten when flexing
- Slight Duck Ass. I am able to straighten back when flexing
We keep it going strong, guys. 1 mm at a time.
Talk soon and Best Regards,
Diary - January 2019 - In Full Stryde with Dr. Mahboubian of North Hollywood.
Quote from: zlRadamanthys on March 11, 2019, 12:02:48 AMHello friend I was reading your diary and my best wishes for you, I hope everything goes well. I have a question out of context since I'm 169 cm but I think the size of my hands is abnormally small since they measure about 17 cm in length and my feet I wedge 8 US like 26 cm although I have a spare finger. I would like to know your American shoe size and the length of your hands because if I lengthen to 176 cm I would not want to seem disproportionate. Thank you very much and I will be with you on this trip, best wishes warrior
Thank you for following my diary, Radamanthys! Feel free to pm me and I'll answer questions and we can review! Talk soon.
Hello InFullStryde,
I’m so pleased to hear things are going so well for you, I’ve been following this thread with great interest as I plan to complete this procedure with Stryde when I can get everything in place so Thankyou for all the infornation
Can I ask what your pre op flexibility was like,
Could you touch your toes? If so by how far?
Did the doctor tell you that this was very important? Can you touch your toes now?
I ask as I’ve been working on my flexabity for sometime now and it’s not improving as i would like,
Many thanks and take care.
Hi,
Thanks for your detailed review.
When you say you are walking, what is the average distance you are walking every day?
Quote from: AnotherLevel on March 11, 2019, 11:48:07 AMHello InFullStryde,
I’m so pleased to hear things are going so well for you, I’ve been following this thread with great interest as I plan to complete this procedure with Stryde when I can get everything in place so Thankyou for all the infornation
Can I ask what your pre op flexibility was like,
Could you touch your toes? If so by how far?
Did the doctor tell you that this was very important? Can you touch your toes now?
I ask as I’ve been working on my flexibility for sometime now and it’s not improving as i would like,
Many thanks and take care.
Hi Another Level! Thank you for following my diary. I sure hope you have found some good value from the content I have been posting. To answer your question; my flexibility was average to below average when I started the surgery. In fact, I had my consultation about 4 months before I had surgery and I was about 5-6 inches from touching my toes (while standing up). My surgeon, Dr. Mahbouban was explicit in telling me that my recovery will be much easier if I can increase flexibility in hamstrings by surgery date. Naturally, the goal was to touch by toes while standing up, sitting down, etc. In 3 months time, while stretching each day, I was finally able to touch by toes, by just barely, a few weeks before surgery.
Dr. M, and other Doctors, even Paley, will more than likely go forward in performing CLL surgery with you even with the lack of flexibility; but you will need to work even harder during your recovery with PT and self stretching so that you do not get too tight. Now that I am in the final couple of weeks of the distraction phase, I would say that 5cm (2 inches) isn't terribly difficult, even with average to low flexibility. That 3rd inch becomes the larger challenge.
Tell me more about your flexibility and I will compare it to mine. Personally, I do not believe you have anything to worry about, unless you are experiencing abnormally stiff joints. Most people are stiff...so abnormal would be stiffness that is beyond what we can expect from the average person.
I hope this helped put some things in perspective for you! Feel free to reach out to me as much as you need. My goal is to help the community by sharing my personal experience with the CLL journey.
Quote from: Pilor on March 11, 2019, 01:57:52 PMHi,
Thanks for your detailed review.
When you say you are walking, what is the average distance you are walking every day?
Hi Pilor! My pleasure to assist the community.
My "unassisted walk" for me means that I am taking steps with no devices to help me. To be clear, my walk looks like Frankenstein duck right now due to tightness and weak thigh muscles. My strength is 500% stronger then it was 60 days ago; however, it is still needing more work before I will be able to walk close to normal. I would grade my walk to 10% normal right now. Currently, I exercise about 2 - 3 times a day in my apartment, and 75% of it is walking on crutches. 25% is me letting go of my crutches and walking about 30 feet up and back many times with no assistance. So I would say I walk about 1/2 a football field (50 yards) per day unassisted now.
With this in mind, I am very careful about not overdoing it. I do not want to risk injury, fatigue and set back on my journey. My personal belief is that a person can probably walk many yards with some rest in between on the Stryde nail. I just happen to have started my journey with weaker leg muscles than the average person.
My favorite things about Stryde so far:
- Weight bearing! I never have to worry about how much weight I am putting on my legs. I stand up and walk (with and w/o crutches) at full weight bearing
- My bone is growing much better than patients using the older precise. (Reference latest x-rays, callous is nicely filled in and waiting to harden as soon as I'm not lengthen)
- I can exercise easily with crutches. Use the crutches only to support your balance; but fully weight bear so that your butt, hips and other thigh muscles continue to strengthen.
Let me know if you have any more specific questions. I'll be happy to answer the best I can.
You diary has been very helpful, everyday I await for your update!
I think that 6cm would be enough lengthening for me , and I always had this figure in my head for better proportions, and quicker recovery,
Assuming you stop lengthening around the 6cm mark how long does your doctor estimate for full consoladation?
I’m around 5 inches from the ground when trying to touch my toes, and my hamstrings are so tight, I drive for a living and so am sat down 9 hours a day, so whatever I do I’m struggling to break this cycle?
What stretches or exercises do you recommend for improving this situation?
I’m planning on having a family member with me for 4 weeks then going alone, is this realistic?
Best regards
Quote from: AnotherLevel on March 11, 2019, 03:27:12 PMYou diary has been very helpful, everyday I await for your update!
I think that 6cm would be enough lengthening for me , and I always had this figure in my head for better proportions, and quicker recovery,
Assuming you stop lengthening around the 6cm mark how long does your doctor estimate for full consoladation?
I’m around 5 inches from the ground when trying to touch my toes, and my hamstrings are so tight, I drive for a living and so am sat down 9 hours a day, so whatever I do I’m struggling to break this cycle?
What stretches or exercises do you recommend for improving this situation?
I’m planning on having a family member with me for 4 weeks then going alone, is this realistic?
Best regards
Great to hear!
With the new Stryde nail, your consolidation is going to be much better since you will be weight bearing for most of the distraction phase. You can anticipate to consolidate like a normal bone will at 6-8 weeks.
Do this stretch 2 times a day, for 3 months and you will be touching your toes or very very close. That is a guarantee!
For the first month, yes, definitely have someone with you. You will be fine alone, after that, however, have an emergency person to call and help you as needed. It's also nice to have someone come and help you clean every periodically. More help the better.
Let me know if you have any additional questions for me.
Thankyou so much, I will start this program today, I just want to improve this flexibility as I understand that it will make the procedure so much better,
Did you have IT band release?
Quote from: AnotherLevel on March 11, 2019, 03:41:11 PMThankyou so much, I will start this program today, I just want to improve this flexibility as I understand that it will make the procedure so much better,
Did you have IT band release?
Glad I can help. Yes, my IT Band was released. This will help very much. I really am an example of a man who has poor flexibility and very tight, and I'm making it all the way to 5+ cm already. :-) You will do great. Keep us posted on your timelines. Also, let me know if you have more questions.
Thank you,
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